Page 14 of Heart Cradle

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“I need to return the Chain to Melrathen,” he said. “It belongs there, it has to be there, and I think you do too.”

She looked down instinctively, at the delicate woven links still looped around her wrist. It sat against her skin like it had always been there, no weight, no pressure, just presence.

“I’ve had it on for less than six hours, but I feel… It’s no time at all and this is absurd, but I already feel like I can’t take it off,” she admitted. “Not because I’m afraid to. Not because of what it might do. Just... because it feels like I’ve always had it. Like taking it off would mean peeling away a part of myself I didn’t know was there until today.”

She looked up at him, brows furrowed. “Is it the magic? Is that the mate thing? Is that you in my head, making me feel that way?”

Eiran’s face softened. “No,” he said. “I mean, maybe some of it. I don’t know, love. We’re linked now. So yes, I’m there, but I’m not trying to get in your head and I’m definitely not trying to manipulate you.”

She let out a shaky breath. “It just doesn’t make sense. Nothing in my life has ever felt this instant. This anchored, and I don’t know if it’s the Chain or the bond or fuck, maybe I’m losing it.”

“You’re not,” Eiran said quietly. “You’re not losing anything.”

Maeve looked away, scanning the quiet street. “I can’t just pick up and vanish into another world,” she said. “I need time. I need to breathe, and I need to stay here.”

He stayed silent, letting her speak.

“I keep thinking if I leave now, if I just run off to some other world, it’ll mean they won. That I stay afraid and I’m so…” her voice caught. “I’m so tired of being afraid. The Chain, I want to give it to you, but I don’t think I can leave it either. I’m sorry.”

Eiran nodded, no hesitation. “Don’t be sorry. I’ll give you time, space, whatever you need. You deserve to choose this freely, not out of pressure, not because of a bond or the Chain or any ancient realm.”

She turned back to him. “Would you meet me here? Tomorrow?”

He smiled. “Here. Our café.”

A slow nod, blushing. “Our café.”

“I’ll be here at sunrise,” he said. “I’m excellent at awkward small talk in the mornings, love.”

She huffed a laugh, grateful for the way he broke the tension without shattering the moment.

?????

They stood not long after, deciding to walk the city a while longer. Night had fallen properly now, the sky inky above them. The warmth of the day had faded, replaced by a gentle hush that wrapped the streets in something almost anticipatory. They walked close, not quite touching, but the tension between them was thick and promising, like the pause before a storm or the last note of a song held too long. Every breath felt shared, every step, synced.

“Tell me about the Fae Lands.” She asked not looking at him as she tilted her face up to the night.

Eiran glanced at her from the corner of his eye, as if afraid looking full-on might shatter something fragile and blooming. “It is a continent that holds six realms. Melrathen, Eldrisil, Edhenvale, Armathen, the Storm Coasts and Avelan.” He said, tone bitter come the end.

“Avelan is lead by Vargen, the one who took your sister?” Maeve asked.

“Yes, he is their king and the head of the Pale Court who rule the realm.” Eiran looked pained and said. “My mother is from Eldrisil. We, Melrathen, have a good relationship with the others just not Avelan. They are to the north, mostly ice bound and favour necromancy and blood magic which is taboo in civilised circles.”

“Christ.” Maeve said stopping at the beach edge.

Down by the water, the sand stretched in a soft, pearlescent arc, nearly empty now save for a few lingering couples and an enthusiastic dogflinging itself into the shallows. The sea whispered over the shore, quiet and slow, as if respecting the mood. Maeve stepped away first, kicked off her boots, and let her bare feet sink into the cool sand. She exhaled, slow and deliberate, the kind of breath that tried to release something deeper, the sand clung to her toes. Eiran didn’t speak, only watched her, the way a flame watches the thing it wishes to consume.

She turned slightly towards him, chin dipped, eyes shadowed. “Feels different at night,” she murmured, voice low.

He nodded once. “Everything does.”

For a moment, the space between them felt thinner than skin, but Maeve broke it by sinking onto the sand and Eiran sat beside her, turning slightly. “You’re a runner.”

She blinked. “Huh?”

“In training, under pressure. You run towards things, never away. That’s rare.”

She was quiet a moment. “Yeah, well. Running’s better than breaking.”